THEURGY – Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence

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7.0

• Bands:
  THEURGY
• Duration: 00:29:38
• Available from: 10/17/2024
• Label:

• New Standard Elite

Theurgy's debut, “Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence”, represents an intriguing entry into the arena of so-called 'brutal' death metal. This international project, currently made up of members from the United States, Canada, Thailand and Italy (with guitarist Marco Finco representing the European component), releases this long-distance debut under the aegis of New Standard Elite, a now known for her flair for finding extreme pearls
Theurgy present themselves with a proposal that combines the typical heaviness of a certain slam/'brutal' death metal with refined melodic incursions and a 'cosmic' atmosphere that can recall bands such as Wormed or Mithras, as well as the more technical and virtuosic moments of Decrepit Birth.
The main strength of the album clearly lies in the work of the lead guitars, which embellish the tracks with sumptuous and melodically evocative interventions. The grooviest and most massive riffs therefore act as a solid base on which these elaborate solo lines are grafted, creating an overall curious mix. This duality between ignorant brutality and melodic research already pricks up one's ears at first listening, even if the group's 'design' is not always perfectly fluid: in fact, some transitions still sound a bit cumbersome, as if the project was trying to find a more natural synthesis between its musical souls.
An element that could divide the audience is the choice of vocal register: the deeply guttural and grotesque growling is certainly effective in underlining the slam soul of the band, but in the long run it tends to be monotonous, risking flattening the emotional impact of the album . In a context that seems to aspire to a certain overall refinement, a more varied approach could help to better highlight the nuances of the compositions. On the other hand, it seems that the boys are very keen to underline some of their roots in the aforementioned slam genre, as demonstrated by the cover of “Molesting the Decapitated” by Devourment, which here however does not seem to add much to the tracklist, other than further playing time to bring the album at the half hour mark. The piece, although well executed in its reworking, almost seems like an interruption compared to the rest of the work, which is overall more ambitious and refined.
Having said that, “Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence” is a debut that, despite some limitations, still reveals significant potential. Theurgy's ability to balance bubbling extremism and melody, combined with the cosmic imagery that permeates the record, makes the project worthy of attention. Of course, there is room for improvement, especially in the cohesion of ideas and in the choice of vocal solutions, but the project, all things considered, is already demonstrating that it has a clear vision and the technical capacity to realize it. A work that is slightly outside of current trends and which, if developed with greater maturity, could make Theurgy a relevant name in the death metal underground.